Broadcasters should prioritise making programmes in Scots and favour using
presenters who speak the language, according to a new blueprint ordered by
SNP ministers.

Members of the Ministerial Working Group on the Scots Language wanted to introduce quotas for the number of television shows in Scots, but were forced to admit they did not have the power to do so.

But they concluded the BBC in particular should interview guests in the language on mainstream news programmes and employ a group of Scots-speaking correspondents, who would be given preferential treatment over their English-speaking peers.

Taxpayers’ money should be poured into providing grants for authors writing books in Scots, the group argued, and Scotland should be promoted abroad as a “trilingual nation” that speaks Scots, Gaelic and English.

Despite education funding being cut in John Swinney’s budget plans for next year, it also recommended funding be directed to producing Scots dictionaries, text books and a website for schools.

J Derrick McClure, the group’s chair, said: “We have produced a full and detailed set of recommendations for enhancing the place of Scots in the national life and have endeavoured to ensure that these are realistic and achievable.”

But David McLetchie, Scottish Tory Chief Whip, said: “I find these ideas absolutely extraordinary, a complete and utter waste of money. Personally, I favour the Queen’s English, as do the overwhelming majority of people in Scotland.”

The report claims that Scots see the language as “a major badge of their identity” and therefore it should have a “regular, prominent and permanent place in both local and national broadcasting schedules”.

Scots output should be increased on TV and radio and all media organisations, including newspapers, forced to adopt a policy of “clear and active encouragement in favour of Scots”.

To “redress the balance”, they should interview people who speak both Scots and English using Scots “to encourage interviewees to respond in their mither tongue.”

Spoken Scots should be regarded as an “important qualification” when choosing producers and presenters and programmes about the language’s history and literature prioritised.

Despite the licence fee being frozen, the report also concluded BBC Scotland should employ a Scots adviser.

Dismal sales of Scots literature were attributed to lack of awareness, and not interest, among the public.

Teacher training should be altered to encourage Scots, the group said, and taxpayer funding poured into a website, a network of coordinators, text books, dictionaries and “free high-quality teaching resources”.

Universities, who have also received a huge cut in their budgets next year, should also be forced to fund more academic research into Scots, the report said.

It also suggested the language be widely used on street signs and ‘Scots touns’, where it is relatively widely used by locals, could be set up and promoted.

Fiona Hyslop, the SNP Culture Minister, welcomed the report and said she would give “serious consideration” to its recommendations.

“At this stage, I am particularly interested in making progress on establishing the network of coordinators which could really drive promotion of the language at a local level,” she said.